Regarded as having been one of the most crucial elections for the future of the agricultural sector in Wales, the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) left no stone unturned in its efforts to stress the importance of various policy areas to future decision makers ahead of the Welsh Senedd 2021 Elections.
FUW President Glyn Roberts and Deputy President Ian Rickman met with the agricultural leads of the key political parties during the run-up to the elections to highlight the main industry concerns and the Union’s Key Manifesto Asks.
These meetings provided the opportunity to emphasise the importance of the next Government to committing to Stability, Family Farms, Supporting Rural Communities and Welsh Jobs, Sustainable Agriculture and Rewarding Environmental Outcomes while designing the Welsh Agricultural Act, the same key areas the FUW and NFU Cymru jointly outlined in the post-Brexit Welsh Way Forward document.
In addition, the Agriculture Bill White Paper proposals were discussed at length due to their far reaching consequences to the Welsh agricultural industry and its long term viability. Furthermore, the NVZ regulations, tree planting pledges, the parties commitments to ring fencing the agricultural budget, Bovine TB, the disappointing lack of commitment to place a cap on payment thresholds and the potential complexity of a public goods scheme were discussed.
Whilst there were positive commitments to Wales’ farming communities, the FUW will continue to lobby for bespoke Welsh policies now and in the future. The FUW is not affiliated to any political party and therefore we have a duty to work with both the government of the day and the opposition parties.
Letters have been sent to constituent and regional Members of the Senedd by the respective FUW County Chairmen and the FUW President has written to the First Minister and relevant Cabinet Ministers, and leaders of the opposition parties highlighting our key concerns.
The FUW will work closely with the next Labour Government to ensure future policies support thriving, sustainable family farms for the benefit of the rural economy, the environment, food security and our unique rural culture.
The FUW Welsh Senedd 2021 Election Manifesto and Ten Key Asks can be found here: https://www.fuw.org.uk/en/policy/policy-reports